Last fall, Rachel Sabotin watched her twin sister Hannah lead the Trinity Lutheran volleyball team to the state finals.
That inspired Rachel to take aim at a couple of high state finishes herself in her swimming events. The Columbus resident and Trinity senior did that by placing third at state in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100 butterfly.
“After watching my sister get runner-up in state in volleyball, that really made me work to get to the top of the podium, to see what I could do,” Rachel said. “So just kind of seeing (Hannah) and her team go through all that, that’s what really motivated me throughout the season, to go for those goals, and I’m really happy with how it turned out.”
Rachel is The Republic Girls Swimmer of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. Hannah has been The Republic Volleyball Player of the Year the past two years.
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Hannah also played basketball for the Cougars, who won a sectional title this season.
“I tried to go to as many (games) as I could,” Rachel said. “I went to her sectional (final), which was really fun because they won, and that was the same night I had won both of my events at sectional, so I got to ride back on the bus with them and party with them, which was really fun that they included me in that.”
During her swimming career at Trinity, Rachel was either the only girl or one of only two girls on the team.
“Every one of my friends at my school are very supportive,” she said. “They really take an interest in it, which is cool because I know at a lot of schools, swimming kind of gets overlooked. It’s really a blessing to go to a smaller school so everyone is a part of everything.”
As a freshman, Rachel finished 10th at state in the 500 freestyle and 17th in the 200 freestyle. She took fourth in the 500 freestyle and 10th in the 200 freestyle as a sophomore.
Last year, Rachel was seventh in both the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle.
“The 200 IM last year was a new event for me, so going into that, I really didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “So this year, I had one under my belt, but there was a lot of new talent in that this year, a lot of freshmen and sophomores. So I’m really happy with how I did with that one.”
After adding the 200 IM last year, Rachel decided to try another new event this year. She swapped the 500 freestyle for the 100 butterfly.
“I think what she was really interested in doing was being more diversified so that when she goes to swim in college, she’ll have more opportunity to swim different events than just the traditional 200 or 500 freestyle,” said her father and coach, Doug Sabotin. “She really wanted to work on those other events — breaststroke, backstroke and then the butterfly. So it was a real great opportunity for her to challenge herself in a way that she hadn’t been challenged.”
This season, Rachel took on a leadership role for the boys and girls teams.
“We have two juniors and one sophomore, and she stepped up as the captain of the team to lead Trinity swimming,” Doug said. “So much of what sports is about is the actual sport, but a lot of it is about teamwork, discipline, commitment, praying before and after meets, encouraging the team and those kinds of things that she was able to do this year.”
Doug wasn’t surprised with how high Rachel finished in both of her events, despite her inexperience in them.
“Knowing how hard she works, how committed she is in and out of the water with her diet, her exercise, school-life balance, nothing would surprise me with Rachel,” Doug said. “She is very determined, very prepared. I think knowing that it was her last chance, her last year gave her a little bit of an extra spark in the finals.”
Looking back at her pre-high school days as a club swimmer, Rachel is thrilled with how far she has progressed.
“In eighth grade, just thinking about what my goals were then and what actually happened now, as an eighth-grader, everything seems like it’s so hard and so big,” she said. “So I’m really happy that I was able to come away with a couple medals and be able to accomplish what I accomplished.”
Now, it’s on to Akron University for Rachel, who will be a part of a big team after being on a smaller one in high school.
“I cannot wait,” she said. “I was talking to my future teammates, and we can’t wait to finally be on a college team and be in that atmosphere. It will be really cool to train with a group of college athletes that are at that level.”
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The Republic All-Area Girls Swimming Team:
Rachel Sabotin, Trinity Lutheran: The senior won sectional titles and finished third at state in both the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly.
Olivia Morlok, Columbus North: The senior won a sectional title and finished sixth at state in the 500 freestyle; also swam on state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Betsy King, Columbus North: The senior won a sectional title and qualified for state in the 50 freestyle; also swam on state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Erica Samuel, Columbus North: The senior qualified for state in the 500 freestyle and swam on the state-qualifying 400 freestyle relay team.
Riddhi Garg, Columbus North: The junior swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams.
Bryleigh Shaffstall, Columbus North: The sophomore swam on the state-qualifying 200 freestyle relay team.
Karlie Brown, Columbus North: The senior finished third in the sectional in the 100 butterfly.
Cloie McDonald, Columbus East: The junior was a regional diving qualifier.
Marin Wiekene, Columbus East: The junior finished third in the 100 breaststroke and fifth in the 50 freestyle at sectional.
Karissa Miller, Columbus East: The sophomore finished fifth in the 100 freestyle and eighth in the 100 backstroke at sectional.
Ellie Proffitt, Columbus East: The sophomore finished sixth in the 50 freestyle and eighth in the 100 butterfly at sectional.
Jennifer Utterback, Columbus East: The senior finished sixth in the 200 freestyle in the sectional.
Etta Greathouse, Jennings County: The sophomore was a regional diving qualifier.
Honorable mention
Columbus East: Caroline Andress, Michaela Greathouse, Josie Havenaar. Columbus North: Lauren Brault, Paige Maddox, Brooke Meek, Adeline Rush, Paige Sherlock. Jennings County: Reagan Brown.
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